Apology to ‘Uzalo’

THE press ombudsman has directed the Sunday Times to apologise to Gugu Zuma-Ncube, Pepsi Pokane and Uzalo for inaccuracies in “Hlaudi’s R167m Zuma TV deal: SABC strongman goes over heads of senior staff to push through cushy contract in just one week” (July 10).

We apologise to the complainants for creating the inaccurate and unfair impression that Uzalo’s budget was unrealistically high by comparing it with Generations, as well as making an erroneous reference to 13 episodes in four seasons. These errors added to the misleading perception of an overly expensive budget for this TV show. We also apologise for the unnecessary harm this caused.

Ombudsman Johan Retief dismissed complaints that the headline was unfair, that the story had said Uzalo had not submitted a business plan, that Zuma-Ncube and Pokane had complained to SABC chief Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and that their responses to allegations in the story had been diminished.

Visit www.presscouncil.org.za for the full finding